Breakable simulated golf club



April-39, 1963 A. POND m BREAKABLE SIMULATED GOLF CLUB Filed Nov. 25,1960 mm mm m0 0 p v w H J A United States Patent Oifice 3,087,728Patented Apr. 30, 1963 3,087,728 BREAKABLE SIMULATED GOLF CLUB AshleyPond HI, Box 1276, Taos, N. Mex. Filed Nov. 25, 1960, Ser. No. 71,689 2Claims. (Cl. 273-67) This invention pertains to the field of sports, andmore specifically, the invention relates to the provision of a new andnovel golf club.

As in any field of competition, the urge to win provides an emotionaldrive which reaches an intense peak when, through inadvertence, poorjudgment, or error in play, a mistake is made which causes thecompetitor to lose control of his temper. Depending upon the type ofcompetition, the display of a temper outburst may assume manyconventional overt actions and among the more frequent demonstrations oftemperament or anger, frustration, and the outright disgust of onesself, is the tendency of a golfer to break one or more golf clubs afterhaving made a bad or ineffective swing. Both amateurs and professionalshave given vent to their anger in dubbing a shot by breaking theirclubs, and the outbreak of such a display of temperament has been widelydocumented in paper-s, periodicals, and other media.

Golf clubs are, for the most part, relatively expensive, andconsequently, the repair or replacement of any one thereof occasioned bydamage as the result of an outburst of temper may cost the golfer aconsiderable sum.

It is, therefore, one of the primary objects of this invention toprovide a golf club which is conventional in appearance, and which isdeliberately constructed to break when used by a golfer in a fit oftemper.

Another object of this invention is to provide a golf club fortemperamental golfers wherein the shaft of the club is deliberatelyconstructed to break when struck against the ground, a tree, or otherinanimate elements when the anger of the golfer reaches a mercurialheight, and wherein the emotion of the golfer requires some physicalmanifestation to achieve emotional release.

A further object of this invention is to provide a breakable golf clubwhich may be readily and easily repaired on the links, at home, or atany desirable site.

This invention contemplates, as another object thereof, the provision ofa golf club which may be broken under emotional stress by the user, theclub being non-complex in construction and assembly, inexpensive tomanufacture, and being durable in use.

Other and further objects and advantages of the instant invention willbecome more evident from a consideration of the following specificationwhen read in conjunction with the annexed drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a golf club constructed in accordancewith this invention, the golf club, in this instance, having theconfiguration of a driver;

FIGURE 2 is an exploded perspective view of the golf club shown inFIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the club shown in FIGURE 1, FIGURE 3illustrating the component elements of the club after the same has beenbroken;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary, enlarged, detail crosssectional view, FIGURE4 being taken substantially on the plane of line 4-4 of FIGURE 1,looking in the direction of the arrows; and

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged detail cross-sectional view, FIGURE 5 beingtaken substantially on the horizontal plane of line -5-5 of FIGURE 4,looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring now more specifically to the drawing, reference numeral 10designates, in general, a breakable golf club constructed in accordancewith the teachings of this invention. The golf club 10 is seen toinclude a two-sectional cylindrical shaft 12 comprising an upper section14 and a lower section 16. The two sections 14 and 16, are formed offlexible rubber or of a plastic material having similar physicalcharacteristics, and the two sections are disposed in end-to-endabutting and coaxially-aligned relationship. The section 14, at itsouter end, is fitted with a conventional handle 18 formed of a rigidmaterial, such as wood, hard rubber, a plastic or metal, and the handlemay receive, if desired, an anti-slip cover 20 of conventionalconstruction. The handle 18 is provided with a longitudinally andaxially-extending connector pin 22 which is fixedly received within asocket 24 that extends inwardly and substantially coaxially from theouter end of the shank section 14.

The inner or abutting end of the shank section 14 is formed with aninwardly-extending, longitudinal and coaxial soc'ket 26 that is alignedwith a similar socket 28 which extends inwardly into the shank section16 from its said abutting end, the socket 28 being coaxial with theshank section'16.

The outer (normally lower) end of the shank section 16 is formed with asocket 30 that receives fixedly therein a shaft 32 integrally formedwith the golf club head 34 of any standard or conventionalconfiguration. If desired, a conventional collar 36 may 'be mounted onthe outer end of the shank portion 16, as shown in the several figures.

The two golf club sections 14, 16 are connected together by means of anelongated, substantially cylindrical frangible pin 38 having its opposedends telescopically received within the sockets 26, 28.

In use, an enraged or emotionally upset golfer who has just dubbed aslrot takes the club .10 from his golf bag and strikes the head 34 atany inanimate object. The force of the blow is transmitted to thefrangible pin 38 causing the same to break and separate the two golfclub shank portions 14 and 16 in the manner illustrated in FIGURE 3.Thereafter, the golfer having now vented his rage, extracts the brokenpin 38 and replaces the same from a supply easily carried in the golfclub bag.

Having described and illustrated in detail one embodiment of thisinvention, it will be understood that the same is offered merely by wayof example, and that this invention is to be limited only by the scopeof the ap pended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A breakable simulated golf club comprising an elongated two-sectionalgolf club shank having a pair of abutting ends, said golf club shankbeing formed of a flexible material, a handle fixedly secured to theother end of one of said sections, a golf club head fixedly secured tothe other end of the other of said sections, said sections each having asocket extending inwardly from said abutting ends, and a frangible pintelescopically received within both of said sockets to normally connectsaid shank portions together.

2. A breakable simulated golf club comprising an elongated two-sectionalgolf club shank having a pair of abutting ends, said golf club shankbeing formed of a flexible material, a handle fixedly secured to theother end of one of said sections, a golf club head fixedly secured tothe other end of the other of said sections, said sections each having asocket extending inwardly from said abutting ends, said sockets beingnormally coaxially aligned, and a frangible pin telescopically receivedin both of said sockets to normally connect said shank portionstogether.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,464,850 Crawshaw Mar. 22, 1949

1. A BREAKABLE SIMULATED GOLF CLUB COMPRISING AN ELONGATED TWO-SECTIONALGOLF CLUB SHANK HAVING A PAIR OF ABUTTING ENDS, SAID GOLF CLUB SHANKBEING FORMED OF A FLEXIBLE MATERIAL, A HANDLE FIXEDLY SECURED TO THEOTHER END OF ONE OF SAID SECTIONS, A GOLF CLUB HEAD FIXEDLY SECURED TOTHE OTHER END OF THE OTHER OF SAID SECTIONS, SAID SECTIONS EACH HAVING ASOCKET EXTENDING INWARDLY FROM SAID ABUTTING ENDS, AND A FRANGIBLE PINTELESCOPICALLY RECEIVED WITHIN BOTH OF SAID SOCKETS TO NORMALLY CONNECTSAID SHANK PORTIONS TOGETHER.